I downloaded this mod recently, and I must say it owns. I simply love it.
I haven`t read this whole thread, so please forgive me if some of my observations have been allready mentioned.
On the first pages a lot of people said that this mod is much harder. That amazed me, because I found that the AI is having difficulties with it. Especially being unable to mine grassland/lplains seems to hurt it. In my first real game (monarch, 16 civs) I comletely dominate, having 5x as many points than the next civ in mid mediveal. Maybe because I never mined grasslands anyway even in regular civ, so I know how to hanle it. Or maybe i was just lucky.
Anyways, here is what I think about the mod (bear in mind that I am a avarage player at best):
I will start with the few things I didn´t like:
The units in the mediveal age. You can get the cavalier very early, having a 6/2 unit. The top unit of the MA has 6/2 also. I know it is faster, has zoc and def bomb, but still think this is a little disappointing not to get more offensive capability after teching up more than half an age.
Map trading is available late in mediveal. That is principially nice, but what`s the point of delaying it so far if you can steal it after learning writing as one of the first techs at all? By the time I can trade I have stolen all maps three times. Of course it is more comfortable to trade instead of having to steal, but maybe you should consider moving the ability to steal maps further up the tech tree.
The imperial guard uses a musket. That is pretty weird, because you can get these guys centuries before you even discover gunpowder. Maybe you could change the graphics to a more ancient look?
About some changes I am rather uncertain.
Raod movement reduced to two. I saw no need for this change, but I have no problem with it either.
Expiring improvements. A very nice idea, but the need to sell worker housings in 40 or more cities can be annoying. Is there a possibility to remove the upkeep after they expired?
Workers start with the ability to build roads. Probably for balancing purposes, but I still consider it weird. Wasn`t irrigating the first cultural archievement, and roads came much later? But balance goes over accuracy.
No founding in deserts/tundras. I really like the idea, but I dislike the gaps in my empire. (btw, sometimes the AI can settle on tundra, might this be a bug?)
But enough complains, here is what I liked:
Well, where shall I start?
The changed rules for terrain improvements come to my mind. I allways hated mines on grassland, and now they are gone! Hurray! Now the AI and me are on equal terms.
Several second palaces. A really nice idea to strengten your empire.
The restrictions to sailing. I think that captures the difficulties of early seafaring very well (no more suicide currags from turn 1)
The HP boni/mali. A very clever way to emphasize the superior power of more modern units. And it really cracked me up to see my first canoe (which managed to kill 2 barbarian galleys, btw)
Speaking of barbarians, they also are great. Now they are really a thread istead of a mere annoyance. In my first attempt I treated them like I used to in c3c, and got owned. After I checked their stats, I had a whole new respect for them.
The gradually appearing resources. A wonderful idea, who doesn`t like it if there are popping up gems next to your best city? It adds a small bit of luck to city founding which I dislike, but below the line I like the dynamic it provides.
The flavored units. A very nice idea, it really adds a lot of atmosphere. This is clearly something that should have been included in civ3 from the start.
No useless techs. Every tech gives you something, which I really like. I never understood the point of techs like chemistry whichs only purpose seems to be to slow down the tech pace. They way this is handled in your mod is much better. The dark ages are a singe exeption to this, and a very good one. Maybe the cost for this tech could be increased vastly to create a long stop of developement? Just a suggestion.
Slavery. A wonderful idea to make enslave so broadly available. In my game I have like 150 peasants, and I haven`t build a single one myself. It was so much fun to capture them all...
Those were the things I enjoyed the most They aren`t the only ones, but I think I have listed enough.
Two small suggestions at the end of my post.
Maybe the trait specific improvements should give a small amount of culture. The reason is that I think they should be destroyed after the city got conquered. It is a little irritating to have a "wrong" improvement in your city, or the same twice.
And would it be possible to make higher improvements require lower ones to be build? For example, everyone builds the library before the academy, because you get the same benefit for a cheaper price. So this decision is a no-brainer. Making those improvements dependent, you wouldn`t take a decision away from the player. The benefit would be that the menue would be much tidier, so that you wouldn`t have to scroll around so much.
This is just an awesome mod, and i thank the developers for making it.
I haven`t read this whole thread, so please forgive me if some of my observations have been allready mentioned.
On the first pages a lot of people said that this mod is much harder. That amazed me, because I found that the AI is having difficulties with it. Especially being unable to mine grassland/lplains seems to hurt it. In my first real game (monarch, 16 civs) I comletely dominate, having 5x as many points than the next civ in mid mediveal. Maybe because I never mined grasslands anyway even in regular civ, so I know how to hanle it. Or maybe i was just lucky.
Anyways, here is what I think about the mod (bear in mind that I am a avarage player at best):
I will start with the few things I didn´t like:
The units in the mediveal age. You can get the cavalier very early, having a 6/2 unit. The top unit of the MA has 6/2 also. I know it is faster, has zoc and def bomb, but still think this is a little disappointing not to get more offensive capability after teching up more than half an age.
Map trading is available late in mediveal. That is principially nice, but what`s the point of delaying it so far if you can steal it after learning writing as one of the first techs at all? By the time I can trade I have stolen all maps three times. Of course it is more comfortable to trade instead of having to steal, but maybe you should consider moving the ability to steal maps further up the tech tree.
The imperial guard uses a musket. That is pretty weird, because you can get these guys centuries before you even discover gunpowder. Maybe you could change the graphics to a more ancient look?
About some changes I am rather uncertain.
Raod movement reduced to two. I saw no need for this change, but I have no problem with it either.
Expiring improvements. A very nice idea, but the need to sell worker housings in 40 or more cities can be annoying. Is there a possibility to remove the upkeep after they expired?
Workers start with the ability to build roads. Probably for balancing purposes, but I still consider it weird. Wasn`t irrigating the first cultural archievement, and roads came much later? But balance goes over accuracy.
No founding in deserts/tundras. I really like the idea, but I dislike the gaps in my empire. (btw, sometimes the AI can settle on tundra, might this be a bug?)
But enough complains, here is what I liked:
Well, where shall I start?
The changed rules for terrain improvements come to my mind. I allways hated mines on grassland, and now they are gone! Hurray! Now the AI and me are on equal terms.
Several second palaces. A really nice idea to strengten your empire.
The restrictions to sailing. I think that captures the difficulties of early seafaring very well (no more suicide currags from turn 1)
The HP boni/mali. A very clever way to emphasize the superior power of more modern units. And it really cracked me up to see my first canoe (which managed to kill 2 barbarian galleys, btw)
Speaking of barbarians, they also are great. Now they are really a thread istead of a mere annoyance. In my first attempt I treated them like I used to in c3c, and got owned. After I checked their stats, I had a whole new respect for them.
The gradually appearing resources. A wonderful idea, who doesn`t like it if there are popping up gems next to your best city? It adds a small bit of luck to city founding which I dislike, but below the line I like the dynamic it provides.
The flavored units. A very nice idea, it really adds a lot of atmosphere. This is clearly something that should have been included in civ3 from the start.
No useless techs. Every tech gives you something, which I really like. I never understood the point of techs like chemistry whichs only purpose seems to be to slow down the tech pace. They way this is handled in your mod is much better. The dark ages are a singe exeption to this, and a very good one. Maybe the cost for this tech could be increased vastly to create a long stop of developement? Just a suggestion.
Slavery. A wonderful idea to make enslave so broadly available. In my game I have like 150 peasants, and I haven`t build a single one myself. It was so much fun to capture them all...
Those were the things I enjoyed the most They aren`t the only ones, but I think I have listed enough.
Two small suggestions at the end of my post.
Maybe the trait specific improvements should give a small amount of culture. The reason is that I think they should be destroyed after the city got conquered. It is a little irritating to have a "wrong" improvement in your city, or the same twice.
And would it be possible to make higher improvements require lower ones to be build? For example, everyone builds the library before the academy, because you get the same benefit for a cheaper price. So this decision is a no-brainer. Making those improvements dependent, you wouldn`t take a decision away from the player. The benefit would be that the menue would be much tidier, so that you wouldn`t have to scroll around so much.
This is just an awesome mod, and i thank the developers for making it.
I will answer your questions here in public, so others who perhaps wonder about the same things can also read the answers.
